


Late Night

by love_killed_the_superstar



Series: But Beautiful We Three Are [14]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drunkenness, Excessive Drinking, F/F, Panic Attacks, Post-Hogwarts, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 03:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14991587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: 8. Tonight had been like any other, except Yellow had talked her into doing shots, said if one gave a secret password to the wizard bartender (and to not get him confused with the muggle bartender, which Blue tended to do every time, to Yellow's amusement) he would throw in a free shot of firewhisky. Three vodka and two firewhisky shots later, Pearl's world was pitching.





	Late Night

**Author's Note:**

> After 2 years since I last added to this series, I come to the table with this... *nervous jazz hands*  
> This came to me after taking care of a friend recently after they drank too much. Also, I never really touched on it during the original shipping bomb, but I do headcanon Pearl getting diagnosed with anxiety at some point (although in another fic I'm working on, it's a few years after she leaves Hogwarts). So I guess this is just a random snapshot from their mid-twenties.  
> Just a warning: Drunken panic attacks, and quite a lot of puking. Read at your own risk.

Drinking was a mistake, she wanted to die, and she absolutely was never going to make it back to the flat.

Pearl hiccuped and let out a sob.

It had all been going so well. It wasn't like it was her first time drinking – she and Blue and Yellow frequented the gay club across the street (surprisingly enough, it was a hotspot for quite a few previously closeted Hogwarts graduates, who'd have thought?) and she'd been inebriated quite a few times. It wasn't her favourite thing in the world, and she still disliked the way alcohol tasted, but it was better on the nights without a theme, where trashy club music would shake the whole room, vibrating her heart.

Tonight had been like any other, except Yellow had talked her into doing shots, said if one gave a secret password to the wizard bartender (and to not get him confused with the muggle bartender, which Blue tended to do every time, to Yellow's amusement) he would throw in a free shot of firewhisky. Three vodka and two firewhisky shots later, Pearl's world was pitching.

She was giggling too hard to even hold a conversation with Blue in the bathroom, nearly tripping over on the steps back up to the upper floor of the bar where the dance floor was located, and she danced with Yellow, kissing and skipping and jumping until her stomach turned and she had the sudden urge to break free, take flight and apparate to the nearest gutter to puke. So she did just that.

One moment she was holding Yellow by the waist, kissing her shoulder, while Robyn sang  _ “still I'm dying with every step I take...” _ and the next she was staggering against the wall of the alleyway outside, hurling her stomach contents into the drain and gripping onto the wall with clammy hands.

It all seemed to go downhill after that. First came the disgust – the horrified  _ I can't believe I just did that oh my god I was just sick in a public place where people could have seen oh my god _ – closely followed by the panic of being alone, in a dark alley, where any creep in Croydon could have their way with her. She fumbled for her wand in the darkness, chest surging with panic when she couldn't find it.

Her throat felt itself closing up and she gasped putrid, acidic gasps as she stumbled away from the drain, falling onto her knees and barely registering that they were scraped, and starting to bleed. The only sensible thing to do now was to cry, and so she did just that.

Barely a minute had passed before she heard an urgent, “There she is!” and soon felt a hand squeeze into her shoulder while simultaneously hearing a dismayed, “Oh crap, she puked.”

“Pearl?” murmured Blue, kneeling down beside her, and Pearl let out a sob and reached for her, clinging to her arm tightly. “Pearl, are you all right? What happened?”

“I'm – I'm so  _ stupid, _ so fucking stupid-” And the walls were closing in again, the tightness in her chest, and she took heaving gasps, her vision swimming. “Just, I'm so sorry, okay, I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking embarrassed, just – just leave me and go home-”

“What?!” Yellow's tone was incredulous. “Don't be silly, we're not just gonna  _ leave _ you, my word, Pearl.”

“I've ruined everything,” she wailed.

Blue shushed her gently, wrapping an arm around her.

“Of course you haven't,” she said kindly. “We were just worried, that's all. You apparated right in the middle of the dance floor, we had no idea where you'd gone.”

“It's a good thing all the muggles in there were too smashed to notice,” Yellow said nonchalantly, but it was enough to make Pearl's body seize up in horror.

“Fuck, n-no, am I going to Azkaban?” she sobbed. “Please don't tell -hic- please don't tell the dementors I did this!”

Blue huffed out a laugh of disbelief and wound their fingers together. “Sweetheart, of course we're not going to, uh, hand you over or anything? You didn't mean to, and nobody saw except us. It's okay. Now, do you feel sick?”

Pearl shook her head, and burped. “I did that already.”

“All right, okay. Let's get you home, then.”

She sniffed loudly and nodded.

Yellow, who was hovering by nervously, huffed in exasperation.

“Great. We can't do it here, Blue, not now.”

Blue followed her pointed gaze to where a group of mostly sober-sounding men had wandered into the alley. One was taking a leak while the others were talking animatedly about some upcoming gig in another part of London. The sound of so many people invading her senses at once caused Pearl to tear up again, and she curled up in a ball, resting her head against the hard gravel floor of the alley.

“Pearl, hon, that's not hygienic at all,” Blue said hurriedly, trying to coax her to sit up again, while Yellow squared up to one of the guys, who had wandered over to gawk at Pearl's hunched figure.

“She need a smoke?” he asked drunkenly, holding out a carton of cigarettes.

“I think that's the last thing she needs,” Yellow said sourly, watching vigilantly while he shrugged and ambled back over to his group again. Pearl hiccuped and let out another wail, feeling so stupid and powerless and weak and ridiculous.

“Why am I like this?” she cried into the floor, feeling her entire body begin to shake. Blue held onto her resolutely, rubbing circles in her back. “Why the f-f-fuck does it feel this bad? I'm – I'm so sorry, fuck, please just leave me here and go...”

“You're like this because you have anxiety, Pearl,” Blue said in a soothing voice, pressing kisses into her hair. “It's not your fault, and we love you, and we're not leaving you here. Now, hon, do you think you can stand? We're going to walk just a little further, get away from these guys, and then we'll go home, okay?”

“I can't! I don't -urp- I don't have my wand! I don't have it, it's gone, my g-gorgeous aspen wand!” she wept, gripping Blue's hand.

“No you didn't, sweet,” Blue reminded her gently, a tinge of amusement in her voice. “We left them at home so we wouldn't lose them in the bar, remember?”

“I-I don't remember, I can't move, just leave me here to die,” sniffled Pearl. Yellow growled in exasperation and dipped down to her level.

“Pearl, for fuck's sake, I love you, but you're being ridiculous. Now me and Blue are gonna walk you further down the alley and we'll take you home. Got it? Now stop crying and hold onto us.”

Yellow's hot temper was the one thing in this situation that made any sense right now, and Pearl finally lifted her head from the pavement to peer up at her, reaching up to rub gravel from her forehead.

“O-Okay,” she whimpered, and Blue's face broke out into a smile of relief.

“Great. On three. Yellow, hold onto her from the other side.”

Slowly, they helped Pearl to her feet. Her stomach lurched for a dangerous second, before settling again, and the three of them gracelessly stumbled down the alley, out of sight of the group of men now smoking and attempting to freestyle rap under the influence. As soon as they were in complete darkness, Pearl felt a panicky gasp rise up in her throat.

“Blue? Yellow?” she fretted.

“Damn it, Pearl, we're right here,” Yellow snapped. “We haven't gone anywhere.”

“Yellow, be patient with her,” Blue whispered, in a scolding tone. “You're not helping by being short with her, you know.”

“You're helping,” Pearl insisted, giving a drunken burp. “You're, you're helping, by, by being short.”

Yellow huffed. “Yeesh, as soon as we get home, you're gonna brush your teeth, hear me?”

Pearl sniffled and muttered, “Yeah, okay.”

Blue sighed.

“Yellow, come on, enough of this. We need to apparate home.”

Once again they counted down, and the next thing Pearl knew she was kneeling on the soft carpet of their sitting room and Yellow was hastily shoving a bucket under her before she spewed up the rest of the alcohol in her belly. Blue, the only one of the three with an iron stomach, shooed Yellow off towards the bathroom while she held Pearl's hair back.

“We'll look back on this in a few days and laugh,” she said, as Pearl continued to retch. “...Well, okay, maybe a few weeks. But we'll laugh about this night, I promise you.”

“Ungh, I f-feel disgusting,” Pearl whined in between heaves, trembling all over with the incoming waves of another panic attack. “I'm so sorry, so so sorry, you must hate me-”

“Absolutely not,” Blue said firmly, reaching over to rub her back soothingly. “Pearl, I don't hate you. Promise.”

“Where's Yellow?” Pearl asked, after coughing a few times.

“Pity puking,” Blue deadpanned with a wry smile. “She had just as much to drink as you, and she never could stand the sound of someone throwing up.”

Memories of their childhood, of stomach bugs and food poisoning and other unpleasant childhood illnesses swam through her head, and she leaned her head against the rim of the bucket, breathing heavily for a few seconds, face pinched in misery.

“I... I think it's all out,” she whispered, after a few heavy moments passed.

“You sure?”

She nodded weakly, and Blue carefully took the bucket from her arms and pushed it to one side.

“Okay. How are you feeling now? Are you okay?”

Pearl swallowed and nodded, even though she was beginning to shiver again.

“I'm f-fine, just really fucking embarrassed, and I really hate myself,” she began.

“I'm gonna stop you right there.” Blue's tone was gentle, and she squeezed Pearl's hands. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, okay? We've all been there. Now, I'm going to take you to bed. We'll get you tucked up and warm, and then I'll check on Yellow. And then we'll both come to bed and spoon you to sleep, okay? You'll be nursing a wicked hangover tomorrow, but we'll take care of you. Because we love you.”

Unable to do anything but nod, Pearl allowed herself to be led to the bedroom, stripped down to her underwear, and tucked under the soft covers. Eyelids growing heavy, the next time she opened them, Yellow was undressing while Blue talked to her in a low, indistinct tone from Pearl's right side. The next time she blinked, Yellow was curled up facing away from Pearl, hugging a metal bowl to her chest and trying to sleep, and Blue's arms were around her, soft, warm, gentle.

The feeling of panic that had been gripping her for the past hour was finally beginning to lessen, and as Pearl slipped into a dream state, the last thing she was aware of were the arms cradling her gently, and the kiss pressed into the back of her neck.

 

…

 

When her eyes eventually fluttered open, she was the only one still in bed, a rare occasion. From the doorway, she could see Blue humming in the kitchen, fixing tea for everyone in nothing but a sports bra and leggings, and Yellow seemed to be sprawled out on the couch, still holding onto the metal bowl.

“You should have just gotten it all out last night like Pearly-girl did,” Blue said, grinning slyly at her.

“Bite me,” Yellow huffed, screwing her eyes shut. Pearl sat up slowly, surprised her temples didn’t feel like they were caving in, and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She climbed out of bed, a little confused about why she was clad only in her underwear, and tiptoed out. When Blue caught sight of her, she smiled brightly.

“Hey,” she said quietly, waving her over. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit achy,” Pearl admitted. “And it looks like my knees got scratched up. What happened last night? The last thing I can remember are the firewhisky shots.”

Yellow squeezed her eyes open to exchange concerned looks with Blue.

“...Nothing,” Blue said at last, forcing another easy smile onto her face. “You, ah, you were very tired and out of it, so we took you home. No big deal.”

Sensing there was more to this story, Pearl glanced over inquisitively at Yellow, but at that moment a piping hot cup of tea was pressed into her hands.

“Drink up, okay?” Blue, the mother to cure all hangovers, pressed a kiss to Pearl’s cheek and patted her shoulder. “You too, Yellow. You’ll feel less sick if you just let it happen and have some tea afterwards.”

“Screw you,” Yellow snapped, hiccuping pathetically.

Pearl sat down beside her and sipped at her tea, shivering as the hot liquid warmed her up internally, and she leaned over to kiss Yellow’s forehead.

“You look like you had a rough night,” she murmured. “My poor Yellow.”

Yellow huffed. “Yeah, well your night was worse than mine. You threw up everywhere.”

“Yellow!” Blue admonished, as Pearl’s cheeks flamed. Yes, it was coming back now, in pieces - apparating away from the dance floor to throw up into a drain.

“Oh no,” she groaned, shutting her eyes tight. “Please tell me that was all.”

“Yes, dummy, that was all.”

She sensed it wasn’t the whole truth, remembering snatches in between sleep, of an incomprehensible conversation (“We won’t tell her about this come morning, okay?” Blue insisted, rubbing Pearl’s back as Yellow got clumsily undressed. “You know she hates having panic attacks, it’ll only make her feel worse about it.”). Still… at least they were here now, all three of them, and they were marginally okay.

She rested her head on Yellow’s shoulder.

“I love you both. Thanks for looking out for me.”

Blue took a seat beside Pearl too, handing Yellow a cup of tea with a smile.

“Of course. It’s what girlfriends do.”

In that moment, their old lives felt light years away (although Yellow would surely point out light years didn’t measure years, and why did Pearl always get that fact so muddled?) - away from their school days, and even further away from the summers they would spend in the gardens nearby just to avoid their mothers, where the world could exist for them and them alone. Thinking of what her mother would think of her right now brought a moment of raw panic into her chest, but Blue was there, Yellow was there, and it forced it away.

“...I’m really glad our parents aren’t here right now,” she finally said, a silly smile on her face.

“Hear hear,” Blue and Yellow said automatically, clinking their cups together in a toast.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I can add more to this series soon!! I've been writing stuff for it all the time... but I never finish it. Here's hoping that will change! (Although, no, Rose is not Pink Diamond in this verse. Pink is Rose's mother, and they have a weird relationship, and that isn't gonna change because of the direction the show has taken, lol.)  
> Anyway, I know this has been a stupidly long time and this fic might not be your cup of tea, but please, let me know what you think. And give me some prompts, if you want! I make no promise to carry them out, but hey, they might inspire me! :)


End file.
